Unforeseen Consequences
by TottWriter
Summary: It was a truth universally acknowledged that Taichi plus alcohol equalled chaos. So in hindsight, Koushiro shouldn't have been surprised by the frankly ridiculous chain of events which could be traced back to one drunken conversation. Of course, as far as Taichi was concerned his decisions all made perfect sense at the time...
1. Catalyst

**A.N.: Okay, so** **I will warn you in advance: as an asexual person myself, this is not going to turn into lemon. If you're here for smut, then sorry in advance but it's been a challenge enough just writing what I did. Still, in the wake of Tri I feel starved enough of Taishiro that I figure the ship needs all it can get.**

 **My thanks to Auragongal on tumblr for beta reading chapter one for me, and giving me the confidence to post this!**

* * *

The night was warm, and loud. An open door allowed the deep, thumping bass from the party to spill out into the darkness. Most of the partygoers were indoors – the celebration for Mimi's eighteenth birthday had been an event long in the making, and she had convinced her parents to let her have full reign of their apartment for the night.

Koushiro had finally steered the sometime leader of the Chosen Children to the balcony outside when it became obvious that Taichi was having difficulty standing. The plan had been to let the fresh air and absence of any _more_ alcohol help to sober him up enough that he stood a chance of remaining upright until the end of the party, at least. It had not involved falling victim to an interrogation. But then, experience had proved time and again that plans involving Taichi tended to go awry. He should have known.

"So. What you're telling me, Koushiro, is that you are nearabout eighteen years old, and you have never kissed _anyone_." For someone having difficulty keeping his balance, Taichi managed to remain remarkably articulate.

"That's correct," Koushiro replied tersely, leaning on the wall. Perhaps Taichi would get the hint.

Taichi frowned, clutching at the railing around the balcony's edge for support.

"And no one ever kissed you?"

Koushiro rolled his eyes. He should have expected that one. That was the trouble with parties – they were a sensory overload which wore him out. And being worn out tended to lead to him making basic mistakes such as letting his friend get started on _that_ subject.

"No, Taichi," he said, with forced patience, pushing his irritation with himself aside. After all, drunk or not, it wasn't Taichi's fault that this had come up. "I think that was covered already."

"Well we have _gotta_ fix that."

With surprising speed for someone a hair's breadth from passing out, Taichi lurched forwards. Koushiro flinched reflexively, and brought his arms up just in time to deflect the other boy's advance. Sighing, he pushed his friend away again.

"Taichi, you are _drunk_ ," he said, speaking slowly and clearly. "You are about as drunk as anyone can be while remaining upright, so I suggest you stop before you do something particularly stupid."

"What d'ya mean, 'Shiro?"

Koushiro ignored the mangling of his name. "I mean that you are far too inebriated to be fully responsible for your own actions, so as your friend I am telling you to sit down and give yourself a chance to sober up."

Taichi appeared confused a moment, then leant back onto the balcony railing and laughed.

"You know what, 'Shiro? You need to get drunk more. Or ever. Your problem is that you're too damn sober." He grinned, and his hand slipped, making him lurch to the side.

They were four storeys up. Koushiro dragged his friend away from the edge and hauled him to one of the chairs on the balcony. When Taichi was deposited safely there, he sat opposite him, eyebrows raised.

"Did it ever occur to you that I have no wish to get drunk?" he asked. Taichi's blank expression was his only answer.

"Wait there, Taichi. I'm going to fetch you some water. Do try not to fall to your death while I'm gone."

Taichi looked over at the railing, and grinned. "I'm not _that_ drunk, you know."

Koushiro smiled crookedly. "You could have fooled me."

By the time he found some cold water and returned to the balcony, Taichi was asleep, head lolling backwards in the chair. Koushiro sighed. He ought to have seen _that_ coming, too.

* * *

Taichi woke up to the Worst Hangover Of All Time. Throbbing head; lurching stomach; a strong desire to punch the sun for having risen – the lot. Never mind those other hangovers. Oh, he might have thought they were bad at the time, but _this_ one – this hangover he was having right now – this was the worst one of all.

He groaned, and curled up in a ball of self-pity. Hikari was going to be a nightmare. She'd been cranky as anything about having been deemed too young to go to the party. No doubt she'd consider this a just revenge.

It took a gargantuan effort to force open his eyes and find out what time it was. After all, there was always a chance she'd have gone out already.

Wait. Why was there a wall where his bedroom ought to be? He rolled over, and came face to face with the answer.

This was Koushiro's room. And he was lying in Koushiro's bed.

 _Well, shit._ Sure, he'd crashed out in this very bed after a night out on one or two occasions before, but he'd always remembered getting there. Waking up in the wrong apartment boded rather badly. Although it did lend some legitimacy to the hangover's severity. Maybe this was the aftermath of _it_. That one drunken night which every teenager supposedly had, which remained unrivalled. From which in-jokes and stories would be sourced, to be talked about for years.

Hard on the heels of this musing came the realisation that he didn't really remember all that much of it. That kinda sucked. Of course, it was hard to remember much of anything with a head which felt two sizes larger than the skull wrapped around it.

His body protested when he finally sat up. Everything hurt. He kept his eyes closed against the nagging sunlight as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed, then winced as his foot caught a plastic edge.

It was a bucket. For a moment he simply stared at it. Well, there were no doubts about who had been responsible for that. Who else but Koushiro would have left him a bucket in case he threw up? That precise blend of quiet consideration and a total lack of any experience with alcohol - coupled with an absence of the sort of paranoia which plagued Jou.

Actually, when compared with the night he'd ended up at Jou's mercy after drinking too much, even the Worst Hangover Of All Time wasn't so bad. At least he hadn't wound up getting his stomach pumped this time. He shuddered, riding out a wave of nausea. Not the best time to think about _that_.

For a few minutes, he simply sat on the edge of the bed taking a mental inventory. It was disorienting as all hell to wake up and not know how you had arrived somewhere. And there were the practical considerations, too. For one thing, there was a rancid taste in his mouth and his toothbrush was all the way back at home. For another, he was still in his clothes from the night before, thoroughly crumpled and covered in what smelled like beer stains. He certainly didn't remember that happening. Maybe he ought to go find Koushiro and ask how he'd ended up at the Izumis' apartment.

Several minutes of deliberating and one stubbed toe later, he stumbled into the living room to find Koushiro sat on the sofa, doing something computery on his laptop. Of _course_ he was. He barely even looked up as Taichi slumped onto the sofa beside him.

"There are some painkillers in the kitchen if you require them."

Taichi blinked, and stared groggily at him. "What?"

Koushiro didn't even stop typing. "I would assume that you are feeling the effects of your alcohol consumption last night?"

"Oh. Right." Taichi closed his eyes and leant forward into the chair, rubbing his face. The faint yet persistent clackety-clack of Koushiro's fingers on the keys was _not_ helping. "Uhh, what time is it?"

The redhead looked up at last. "A little after eleven," he said, with altogether too much energy. "You passed out at Mimi's, by the way. Jou managed to wake you, at which point you insisted on walking home."

"I see I did a real good job getting there," Taichi muttered.

He looked up at the sound of the laptop closing with a gentle click. Koushiro was watching him, eyebrow raised.

"Well, given that my apartment is considerably closer to Mimi's than yours, and the fact that you were unable to walk straight, I made the executive decision that it was the safer option. You don't remember any of this, I take it?"

He shook his head, then groaned. That had been a bad idea. "It's all kinda vague really," he said as the throbbing eased. "Man, I haven't drunk that much since-"

"Since Jou panicked that time, yes."

Taichi frowned. There was something odd about Koushiro's replies. It wasn't the tacit disapproval – Koushiro had never been a big drinker, and usually berated his friends rather than showing sympathy for their hangovers. It was as much a part of him as the laptop was. Even amid the Worst Hangover Of All Time, Taichi hadn't really expected anything else. Still. There was normally a cheerful undercurrent to it all. The hint that really, Koushiro was more amused than anything else. The closed laptop was a huge warning that something was wrong, too.

He went over his memories from the night before. Copious amounts of food to start the evening? Check. Loud music? Check. Himself and Yamato getting in a slightly over-enthusiastic mock fight and spilling their drinks? Oh, so _that_ was the reason for the stains on his shirt. The events afterwards took a nose-dive into the hazy, dreamlike fuzziness of intoxication. He had a vague memory of talking to Koushiro outside about something though... Ah. He winced.

"So, what dumb thing did I say this time?"

Koushiro's only reply was a somewhat resigned sigh and a shake of the head. Taichi's heart sank. That _had_ to be a bad sign.

The thing about Koushiro was that he managed to be both the most singularly unflappable person Taichi knew, while also being prone to overreactions which approached Mimi or Jou-style proportions. Over the years, it had become apparent that all the overreactions tended to focus around either computers or the Digital world. When it came to the sort of things people normally pulled hair out over – crushes, schoolwork, sports – Koushiro would just sit there, calm as you like. Any surprise he showed seemed to stem from the fact that other people worried about such things.

Knowing that, even the mild amount of irritation Koushiro was displaying became a lot more serious. And the best explanation, Taichi knew, was that he'd done something really _stupid_.

Which was why the following few hours, in which his friend did an about face and acted as though nothing had happened, confused the hell out of him. Oh, there were slips, yes. Moments where he caught Koushiro looking at him as though he'd grown an extra arm or something. And the dismissal of whatever it was that he'd said the night before was pretty out of character too. But for the most part, Koushiro was back to his normal, somewhat sarcastic self.

Taichi _really_ wished he had a better idea of what the hell had happened the night before.


	2. Delayed Reaction

One week later, Koushiro was just firing up a newly completed programme for tracking anomalies in the digital world when there was a knock at his bedroom door. Well, there went his evening's plans.

"Come in, Taichi," he said with a sigh, and reached forward to turn the monitor off.

"You know, I never did understand how you can always tell it's me," his friend remarked, making himself at home on the bed.

Koushiro rolled his eyes and got up to close the door, which Taichi had left wide open. Again.

"No one else knocks six times, is how. It's something of a giveaway." He looked over at the sprawling teenager. "Is there any particular reason why you have co-opted my bed?"

Taichi sat up. "Course. You still didn't tell me what happened at the party last week."

He sighed. Really, he ought to have expected that. Taichi possessed a level of stubbornness unrivalled by anyone else he'd ever met. The fact that he'd told the other boy it wasn't worth remembering had probably only made matters worse. It was time for a different tactic, then.

"So let me get this straight," he said. "You've spent the whole week racking your brain to remember a drunken conversation which you couldn't even stand up through. And now you want _me_ to relate the events because I'm the one who elected _not_ to get so drunk that I couldn't even make my own way home?"

It was was little cruel to pull the "angry Koushiro" card, perhaps, but _really_. It was a subject best dropped. Taichi was exactly the sort of person to make altogether too much of a big deal out of that kind of thing. Seeing as he couldn't remember any of it, by far the best option was to bury the whole incident and move on.

"Aww, shit." Taichi hung his head. When he looked up there was actual contrition daubed across his face. "Whatever it was, it must have been bad. I'm sorry Koushiro."

That was an angle Koushiro hadn't anticipated. Irritation, yes. Perhaps a kind of non-apologetic plea for him to not be mad at him and just _spill_ already. But guilt? He sighed. Letting Taichi believe he was simply too annoyed to talk about it had been a poor decision then.

"It wasn't "bad", Taichi. Merely a topic of conversation I don't often discuss, and which I see no need to revisit now. I don't hold you responsible for your actions or hold any ill-will, so let's drop the matter and move on, okay?"

Again, he had expected irritation, perhaps resignation if he was lucky. Not the expression of mortification which Taichi now bore.

"Wait, _actions_? You mean I actually... I didn't – Oh, man, I am so sorry Koushiro." Taichi pressed the palms of his hand to his forehead. "I'm such an idiot."

Koushiro raised his eyebrows, certain he must be missing something. He leant back in his computer chair and folded his arms.

"Taichi, I just told you that I don't think there's a problem, so why are you still apologising? You don't even know what you're saying sorry _for_ , so I don't understand why it's turning into such an issue."

Taichi didn't look up, instead shifting his hands so they obscured his entire face. When he eventually spoke, his words were muffled slightly.

"Yeah, except I _do_ know," he muttered. "Only I thought that part was just... I dunno. One of those weird dreams you get when you're drunk."

Koushiro sighed. Well, that certainly explained more than it didn't.

"So, you didn't think to just _ask_? To check if my memories matched your own?" he said eventually.

"Would you?" Taichi replied woodenly.

"It's hardly a situation I am ever likely to find myself in, you know."

Taichi snorted. "No, of course not. 'Cause it's just me who does all the stupid stuff."

There was another silence. Clearly this had been bothering Taichi all week. It had to have been – there was no way he would even have remembered it otherwise. For the most part, Taichi was someone who lived in the present, not worrying about things that were over with. The only person normally able to invoke this sort of dedicated worry about past events was Hikari.

Then again, in a sense it hadn't been resolved until just now. Perhaps now that it was all out in the open things would go back to normal.

"Well," Koushiro said, when it became apparent that his friend wasn't about to move. "Fancy playing some video games?"

 _That_ made Taichi look up. "What?"

Koushiro shrugged. "Well there's no need for melodramatics at this point. We're both aware of what happened, so I have no need to conceal it from you, and you have no need to interrogate me further. So, rather than spend the entire evening in this fashion, did you want me to get the controllers out, and we can play something on my computer?"

Judging by the look of pure bafflement on Taichi's face, his attempts to steer the evening back towards normality had failed. Koushiro sighed inwardly. Perhaps he ought to have just told him the first time, and they could have gotten all this over with by now.

"But..." Taichi said. "I tried to... I was-"

"You were _drunk_ , yes," Koushiro replied. "So drunk that there was a moment where I thought you were going to fall off the balcony. I hardly consider your actions in that state to be something worth this level of contrition, although I would suggest that you reign it in a little in future." Surely _that_ would put an end to the matter.

It hadn't. That much became apparent from the lack of relief on Taichi's face. If anything, he looked worse than before. Koushiro racked his brain for ideas to cheer up his friend, and came back empty. This was a long way from any of his areas of expertise.

"Look, Taichi, what's wrong?" he said at last. "I'm not sure I understand why this is such a problem."

"What's wrong?" Taichi snapped, sitting up straight. "What's wrong is how you can just sit there all calm and smug like this is just some kind of game."

Koushiro stared at him. What on Earth was that all about?

"Now just hold on a second Taichi." He hadn't felt so put-upon in years. "I fail to see how my behaviour has been in any way questionable. I escorted you to a safe bed after you drank yourself into a stupor – and not for the first time, I might point out. I even assisted you with the hangover the following morning. Then, when you barged into my apartment just now, expressing concern about your drunken antics, I sat here and have reassured you repeatedly that it's not a problem. I've done my best to be a good friend here, Taichi, so please excuse me if I am starting to get a little irritated with your insistence on turning it into a big deal – which is the exact reason I didn't tell you what happened in the first place, I might add. Because I _knew_ this was how you would react."

"Oh come _on_ ," Taichi cried, getting to his feet. "No one's that oblivious, Koushiro, not even _you_."

"And what precisely is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"I mean the fact that I wouldn't have tried to kiss you while I was drunk if I hadn't wanted to sober!" Taichi snapped, clenching his fists.

The silence was sudden, and complete. Not even the whirring of fans – Koushiro's computer had gone to sleep at some point during their escalating argument.

Amid his surprise, Koushiro could clearly see the growing panic on Taichi's face. If he didn't say something soon, his friend was going to bolt.

"You know, I had always assumed you were straight," he managed at last. It was probably the wrong thing to say, but what exactly was the _right_ thing?

Taichi slumped back onto the bed, cradling his head in his hands once more.

"Yeah, well. Guess that's out there now." He paused, and added: "You angry or freaked out yet?"

"Why would I be? I mean, confused, certainly, but-"

"Wait. _Confused_? What the hell kind of reaction is that?" Taichi looked up, letting his hands fall onto his knees. His face bore an expression of complete incredulity.

Koushiro sighed. And to think he had planned on _relaxing_ that evening. Still. At least Taichi was starting to sound more like himself.

"Well, how am I supposed to react?" he asked, as reasonably as he could manage.

Taichi groaned, and flung his hands up in a gesture of defeat.

"Hell, I don't know. This whole thing is just..." he trailed off and shook his head. "I mean, you could at least seem a bit more surprised or something."

"Taichi. Are you _seriously_ telling me that you're annoyed because I handled you coming out too well?"

"I... It's not that, Koushiro." He sighed. "I mean, it's more that, I dunno. I'd pretty much expected to lose friends if I came out. I'd _prepared_ myself for all that. And now you're just sat there, like it's no big deal either way."

Koushiro shrugged. "Well, you being not-straight isn't a problem you know. I mean-"

"And the rest?"

From someone who nearabout traded on his carefree, care _less_ attitude, Taichi's expression of serious concern was quite shocking. Koushiro felt the words die in his mouth. What was he supposed to say, exactly?

He knew Taichi. He'd listened to all the agonising over Sora, and seen the later contrasts. Idle crushes didn't faze Taichi. He simply went out and either acted on them or got over it. The only time he kept his feelings to himself was…when he truly _cared_ about the person in question. Koushiro felt like an idiot for not realising sooner. But then, when did he ever notice these things?

"Taichi, I..." He stopped, not sure what to say. He had a feeling that all the careful wording in the world wasn't going to help.

Before he could collect his thoughts, Taichi stood up.

"It's fine, Koushiro. I... I'm just gonna go before I make this worse or something."

Koushiro almost knocked his computer chair over in his haste to stand up.

"Now hold on a minute Taichi. Just give me a minute to process all of this, will you? You haven't given me any time to react."

Taichi shook his head. "If you need 'time to react' then I already know what I'm gonna hear, right?"

"It's not that simple. I mean, I've always considered you one of my closest friends, Taichi, but-"

"But you're straight. I get it. It's okay."

It didn't take a genius to see that Taichi was lying through his teeth. The bitterness in his voice was palpable.

Koushiro sighed impatiently. "I'm fairly sure I'm _not_ straight, as it happens," he said. At Taichi's expression of incredulity he added: "As I am male, the term straight would imply a physical attraction to women. I've never experienced attraction of that sort towards anyone at all."

"Oh. Yeah?"

There was hardly any effort in Taichi's false interest this time. It was like Sora all over again, only this time Koushiro couldn't help at all. He'd _caused_ the problem, by attempting to mask what had happened. And to compound the mistake he had just spoken without thinking - for the first time that he could even remember - and managed to blurt out a technical truth which Taichi would naturally interpret in the worst possible way.

All he could do was stare helplessly as his best friend pushed past him and walked out. No. This wasn't like Sora. Taichi had never told Sora how he'd felt, although she'd admitted to guessing, a few years later. This time, Taichi had actually confessed. And it hadn't gone well. There was no precedent for Taichi's reaction which Koushiro could fall back on; no prior experience he could use to judge what Taichi would do next.

Koushiro flopped onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. Was that it? Had one night's intoxicated slip-up, compounded by his own mismanaging of the situation, ruined things completely? The thought of losing the closeness of their friendship – or worse, of losing Taichi as a friend altogether – scared him more than he had thought possible. What exactly was he supposed to do now?

* * *

 **A.N.:Aaand we have chapter two! I'm probably going to hang fire for a few days before posting any more chapters, because as I say, I have yet to reach the end and I'd rather give myself a bit of a buffer before reaching it. This isn't a long, saga-type fic like my others, and I think I'm either on the last or penultimate chapter at this point. With any luck I'll get them written before I run out of chapters to post!**


	3. Disproportionate Response

Taichi managed to avoid Koushiro for two whole weeks. Oh, they were hell, certainly. But it sure as anything beat the alternative. He couldn't face him after everything that had happened. The look on Koushiro's face as he'd finally put two and two together was one which would haunt him for a long time.

He could have handled embarrassment. He could even have dealt with general awkwardness or discomfort. It wasn't as though he'd particularly expected his feelings to be returned. But he hadn't at any point expected _that_ level of shock and surprise. Koushiro had looked... he'd actually _flinched_. And the whole "no attraction to anyone" thing - it made sense, sure. It still came off like a convenient excuse. An attempt to lessen the blow.

Taichi knew he was being unfair. Koushiro wasn't the sort of person to lie, and what was the point in lying about that, anyway? But in the depths of his self-pity he didn't really care. It was easier to blame someone else than accept it as one of those things.

The worst part was the fact Koushiro probably knew _exactly_ what Taichi was doing. What he was telling himself. It had been Koushiro who had helped him through all of this with Sora, after all. Who'd sat there and damn well _rationalised_ it for him. Told him he was justified for every bit of guilt-laced jealousy and irritation, that it was only normal.

And now he was just a few feet away from Taichi, talking to Jou and doing a passable imitation of someone without any worries at all. He'd put on that carefully neutral face and everyone else had bought it. No one seemed to notice that Koushiro was acting quieter than was usual during one of their get-togethers.

Of course, that was probably because he himself had gained the spotlight for "acting kinda off". And the fact that none of the others knew Koushiro as well as he did. If he wanted to, the redhead could deflect attention better than anyone else he'd ever met. Taichi had joked, years ago before his sometime crush had gotten more serious, that the reason they got on so well was down to the fact that he was only too happy to soak up all the attention Koushiro didn't want in social situations. They'd even made a pact to stay good friends so that the convenient arrangement could continue. Memories like that stuck like lumps in his throat now.

"Taichi. _Taichi_!"

He jumped, and shook his head quickly to clear his thoughts.

"Sorry Yamato, what was that? Kinda tuned out there."

Yamato raised an eyebrow. His expression was a little too knowing for Taichi's liking. "I noticed."

Taichi ran a hand through his mane of brown hair – still wet from the rain falling outside – and shrugged.

"Yeah. Guess I'm not over that bug yet. Still kinda wiped out," he said. It was a dreadful lie, but at least Yamato had the decency to pretend otherwise.

"Well, as I was _saying_ , Mimi suggested grabbing a few drinks and heading back to her place later. There's just Jou and Koushiro left to talk into it. My dad can drop Hikari back at your apartment."

Taichi winced, looking away. "Uhh, might have to give that one a miss. I should probably head off in a bit anyway. What with, you know, that bug and all." He forced himself to smile, and added: "Another time, yeah?"

Yamato folded his arms and looked at Taichi with that smug expression he always wore when he saw straight through him.

"You're a terrible liar, you know that? If something's wrong you could always try telling me what it is."

Taichi shrugged. "Well, if something was wrong I would, but I'm just tired, so..."

Yamato snorted. "Something happened with Koushiro, didn't it."

" _What_?"

"Taichi. We were all at that party. You were so drunk he had to help you stay upright. You're just lucky you didn't throw up _in_ Mimi's apartment. So, what, he's mad at you because you did something stupid again?"

Taichi supposed he ought to just be grateful Yamato was _that_ far off the mark. There were times when the guy was too damn observant for his own good. He gritted his teeth.

"Nothing happened," he said, when he was sure he had his voice under control. "Look, I should go. I've, uh, got a paper to write, anyway."

Yamato stared at him as though he'd just grown an extra head. This was too much. It was time to leave.

"But Taichi, we were going to head back together, remember? My dad offered us a lift. Besides, you- What the hell, Taichi? It's pouring with rain and you don't even have a coat!"

Taichi had reached the door to the restaurant, not particularly caring that the others were all most likely staring at him by now thanks to Yamato's outburst.

"It's just water," he said shortly, not looking back. "I'm hardly gonna melt." Without waiting for a reply, he stalked out into the evening.

The rain was good. Freezing cold and thoroughly miserable by normal standards, but at least finding the most sheltered path through it gave him something to think about. A way to distract from the fact that he had pretty much lost one of his best friends.

He'd half expected Yamato to follow him. He would have at one time, if only to punch some sense into him. Taichi wasn't sure if he felt relieved or disappointed that so far there was no Yamato, no fist connecting with his face.

It was raining so hard now that it was difficult to even see. The only way he _could_ see anything was to raise a hand to shelter his eyes. The deluge had long since drenched him as thoroughly as if he'd jumped into Tokyo bay. Rainwater plastered his hair to his head, and trickled down his neck. His shirt clung to his skin – jeans too, for that matter. Both of his shoes were so saturated that they squelched as he walked. The chill of the water in the evening air started to seep into his skin.

He gave in halfway through the park, having slowed considerably from his initial brisk pace. A tree provided shelter, and he took stock while leaning against the trunk. It was still a long walk back to his apartment and he was already shivering. Perhaps Yamato had been right after all. Not that he'd ever admit as much, of course.

There was no let-up. Having started, the torrent of rain fell on and on without easing in the slightest. Puddles started to connect, out in the green areas of the park. This was ridiculous. He needed to get somewhere warm and dry before he froze or something.

Koushiro's apartment block wasn't far. Not even a month ago, Taichi wouldn't have hesitated to head over and ask the Izumis to let him wait it out and possibly lend him a towel. Now though... He shook his head. This was getting him nowhere.

Rubbing cold arms, he set off once more, determined not to give in and admit there was even a _chance_ Yamato had been right.

Stupid Yamato, with his damn smugness and knowing looks. Stupid Sora, too, arranging their latest get-together so far from his apartment. Stupid weather, for lying to him with its clear blue skies and stinking hot autumn air, only to turn on him with the mother of all rainstorms. And stupid, _stupid_ Koushiro, for making things so damn awkward in the first place. For being so... so... For his face, with those damn eyes which seemed to look right into him. And his mouth, with its stupid smile; the one which had the really annoying habit of making his breath hitch if he wasn't careful. And the rest of him too: everything about him was just too damned-

Taichi was regretting this whole walk-home plan now. Alone in the rain, it turned out - once he was as cold as a person could be - there was actually nothing at all to distract him from his thoughts. And the rain made it impossible to run without risking breaking his neck, even if he'd _had_ the energy to run any more. So the warm comfort of home and of his bed was that much farther off.

He didn't even hear the voice calling his name at first. He just trudged onward through the park, hands in sodden pockets. By the time he caught on and turned around, Koushiro had almost caught up with him, face pale against the dark material of his hooded coat.

"Taichi, what were you _thinking_? It's almost an hour's walk back to your apartment!"

Koushiro scowled up at him, practically yelling in order to be heard over the downpour. Taichi wasn't sure if the redhead was really that angry, or just trying to keep the water out of his eyes.

He shrugged. "Like I told Yamato, it's just water," he said, trying to sound like nothing was wrong. Like he wasn't shivering from the cold and bitterly regretting everything after the moment he'd left home earlier that evening.

"Yes, but you're soaked through, and it's _cold_ out!" Koushiro reached out and grabbed his forearm, expression changing as warm fingers closed around his skin.

"As I suspected. You're freezing, Taichi. Come on. I'm not letting you make yourself ill like this." He turned in the direction of his apartment and gestured for him to follow.

For a moment, Taichi resisted the gentle tug on his arm, staring at Koushiro as the rain drenched them both. Why the hell had _he_ come after him? This was Yamato territory. It was a classic 'Yamato chases him down, punches him in the face, calls him and idiot and they both laugh' moment. Koushiro was the one who would then call them _both_ stupid. Who sat and watched and waited for things to blow over and rolled his eyes. Koushiro hadn't even been _talking_ to him – although admittedly Taichi had more or less engineered things that way.

"Taichi. Do you _want_ hypothermia?"

He blinked. Koushiro was still staring at him, lips pressed tightly together in an expression Taichi had always interpreted as 'annoyed but worried'. Sighing, he shook his head and followed. It probably _was_ a better option than the alternative.

* * *

 **A.N.: Chapter three! The inspiration for this chapter came from a couple of experiences I've actually had. The first was the time I was stranded at school after the boiler broke down and had to walk home in the freezing cold with (you guessed it) just a shirt on, and the second was a rainstorm I had to run through in order to get to work, which was similarly impossible to see in (I had substantially more than a shirt on for that one though). And I absolutely think that Taichi would be the sort of person to misjudge the weather and go out without a coat.**

 **I do _not_ recommend walking for an hour in the cold with just a shirt on by the way. I wasn't in great shape by the time I made it home. (I was shaking for another hour, wrapped in a warm towel.) Be sensible, kids, and take a coat to school on a cold day!**


	4. Eccentric Solutions

The shivering had gotten worse by the time they reached the apartment block. His teeth were chattering as Koushiro wordlessly fumbled with his keys and thrust the door open, practically dragging Taichi inside. This was Koushiro at his most calculated and closed off – caught up in a problem which needed fixing. Taichi followed mutely into the bedroom. Past experience had told him that there was no derailing Koushiro once he got that invested in something.

"You'll need to take those wet clothes off," Koushiro said briskly. "I'm not sure I have anything much that will fit you for you to wear instead, so you should wrap yourself up in the bedsheets to start warming yourself up again. I'll fetch a towel so you can dry off, and then I'll put some tea on. A hot drink is probably a good idea at this point."

Taichi stared at him blankly. It was hard to follow Koushiro when he got like this, and it was harder still when he was shivering so much that the warmth of the apartment seemed to burn his skin. At last his brain caught up, and he reached down for the top button on his shirt. His fingers were numb, and shook so much that he could hardly hold it, let alone unfasten it. Koushiro watched him struggle a moment, brows locked in a deep frown, then reached out and grabbed his wrist, towing him from the room.

"New plan," he announced in the same, matter-of-fact voice.

Taichi let himself be guided to the bathroom. This was all going wrong anyway, so what could make it worse?

"Okay, I'll get some towels. Don't worry about your clothes, just empty your pockets and get in the shower until the warm water stops the shivering. The important thing is to get your body temperature back up – and you're soaked through anyway, so it won't make much difference."

How the hell did Koushiro do it? Once again, this was a situation in which anyone else would be either panicking (Jou, for example), or making a fuss of one sort or another (Mimi or Sora would probably be urging him to hurry up; Yamato would alternate between voicing concern and calling him an idiot). Koushiro just... got on with it. As though this was something which happened all the time.

He realised he'd been staring at about the moment Koushiro tutted loudly and turned the water on, before pointing to Taichi's pockets.

"Give me your phone, and your wallet. I'll see about getting them dry."

His hands had enough co-ordination left to extract both, although he didn't hold out much hope for either. Koushiro accepted them, and put them on the side of the sink before placing both hands on Taichi's shoulder-blades and pushing him into the shower. He yelped – the water was painfully hot on his cold skin.

"Stay in there until the shivering stops," Koushiro instructed through the glass of the shower door. "It's hardly ideal, but it's easier than the alternative."

The burn of the hot water faded after a few minutes, and he realised that it had in fact only been warm. When the feeling returned to his hands he shut it off and stood, dripping, in the shower for a moment. Koushiro had placed a couple of towels by the door and left.

It was strange as all hell to be getting undressed _after_ a shower – and in Koushiro's bathroom too – but at last he found himself mostly dry once more. The warm part wasn't fully there yet, but at least he wasn't quite as cold as before. He wrung his underwear out as best he could before putting it back on with a grimace. Damp and uncomfortable or not, there were some lines he had absolutely no intention of crossing.

After drying his hair as best he could, and wrapping the towel around as much of himself as was feasible, he wandered out of the bathroom to find someone. It was quiet in the apartment - apparently Koushiro's parents were out for the evening. He hadn't even thought about that before; too busy shivering from the cold to focus on anything more than wanting to be warm again. Koushiro was waiting in the kitchen. He held out a steaming cup as Taichi walked into the room.

"Drink," he said. "The shower might have warmed you enough that you got the feeling back in your hands, but there's no sense taking chances. If you hand me your clothes I can set them drying."

Taichi handed over the sodden pile of clothes in his free hand, and mutely accepted the cup. He hadn't seen Koushiro presenting such a carefully blank and expressionless face in years. He certainly couldn't ever remember being on this side of it.

What would be worse? The thought that Koushiro was acting so matter-of-factly because he was covering up for feeling awkward and uncomfortable around him, or the thought that this really was back to business as usual, and their whole conversation hadn't even made a lasting impression?

 _I never should have gone out this evening_ , he thought, walking into the dining area and sitting at the table. The tea was hot, but not undrinkable. He nursed the cup in his hands after taking a sip, letting the warmth seep into his skin, and staring down at the liquid inside. When Koushiro sat opposite him, he heard rather than saw it.

"I set your phone drying in a bowl of rice, and your wallet is laid out so the air can get to all the compartments." Koushiro spoke clearly, his voice level.

Taichi nodded, keeping his eyes on the cup in his hands. "Thanks. You didn't have to go to all that trouble though. I'll head off in a bit."

There was a sigh from across the table.

"Your clothes are completely drenched, and it's still raining almost as hard as it was earlier, Taichi. I checked the weather, and the forecast shows no sign of it letting up for the evening. Unless there's some pressing reason for you to be at home which is worth your courting hypothermia twice in one night that I don't know about, I really do think it's more advisable that you stay here. Now. I'm sure I've got a shirt somewhere which will fit you; at least that way you'll have something more than a towel to wear until your clothes dry."

Taichi gritted his teeth as Koushiro spoke, and nodded instead of replying. He was _not_ going to say anything to make an already awkward situation even worse. He'd done enough of that recently.

His resolve lasted through Koushiro finding a shirt (too small to fasten the buttons at the front, but at least it kept his back and arms warm), all the way up to the point where they were sat back at the table and he was asked if he wanted anything to eat, since Koushiro had somehow noticed that he'd just been picking at his food during their gathering earlier.

"Look, would you just _stop_?" he said at last, looking up from the second cup of tea he'd been presented with. He met Koushiro's startled eyes for all of a second and then looked away, focusing instead on the pair of hands neatly clasped across the table.

"Stop what?" Koushiro asked, sounding for all the world as though this were just some regular conversation, and Taichi wasn't sat there dressed in a towel, and a shirt which didn't even do up.

"This!" Taichi exclaimed, pointing at him. "You're doing it again! That whole 'Nothing happened, I'm just going to totally blank everything about the last few weeks' act you have going on. And don't try and tell me you're not doing anything, because I know you better than that. I might not be a genius, but I'm not _stupid_. You're closing me out."

Koushiro raised an eyebrow. "In fairness, Taichi, you can hardly claim to have been doing anything different." The closed-book face was back, as though that momentary lapse into surprise had never happened.

"Yeah, I can actually," he found himself saying. After two weeks, he was done with holding back, no matter what the consequences. "I get that ignoring you was kind of a dickish move, but it wasn't _this_. Can you at least be honest with me? I mean, jeez. Get annoyed; tell me I'm an ass; tell me I'm making some huge scene and you think I'm stupid; tell me you want me to back off or whatever, and I'll do it, I swear. Just…don't act like nothing happened, because something _did_ happen, and I can't just sit here and pretend that everything is all normal after that! I mean-"

"Kiss me."

Taichi fell abruptly silent, his hand landing on the table with a _thunk_. His mouth opened and closed silently a few times, all the words having run out.

"… _What?_ " he managed at last.

The faintest hint of red washed across Koushiro's cheeks as he raised his eyebrows. "I'm not in the habit of repeating myself you know," he said, his voice almost passing for normal. Almost.

"No, I mean… _why_?"

This was just ridiculous. As if the evening wasn't surreal enough already. Part of him wondered if one of the side effects of hypothermia was hallucinations.

Koushiro sighed, and leant back in the chair with his arms folded. Taichi knew that one. There was a speech incoming.

"Well it has become abundantly clear over the last few weeks that you harbour a desire to avoid me which stems from the, ah, _incident_ at Mimi's party. This was of course then exacerbated by my reaction two weeks ago when…well, suffice it to say that the unexpected nature of the situation led to a poor choice of words on my part, and the resulting miscommunication directly led to your rash actions this evening - and it hadn't escaped my notice that you appeared to be ill at ease in my company even before your abrupt departure. Actually, that reminds me. Yamato seemed to be under the impression that I was angry about the fact that I had to escort you away from Mimi's party. I'm not sure why he thought that, so I did make a point of correcting him before I left the restaurant. But as to your question…I suppose I had considered that all this stems from a rather abrupt decision I made without full access to the information I possess now, and while naturally neither of us are able to reverse decisions made in the past, there is an opportunity present to prevent this estrangement from continuing-"

Taichi held up his hands and gestured for Koushiro to stop talking. Honestly, they'd be there all night if he let the guy continue.

"So. Let me get this straight," he said, mentally translating Koushiro's speech as best he could. "Are you saying that you want me to _kiss_ you just to…what, because you think that will stop me avoiding you?"

"Well, broadly speaking I guess that's one way of putting it-"

Taichi leant forwards, placing both hands on the table. "Even though you already told me you don't see me as more than a friend and you're basically never going to because you're, what, asexual? What kind of asshole do you think I _am_ , exactly?"

He was livid. Livid and _hurt_. It was bad enough that he'd finally confessed his feelings only to be turned down, but now Koushiro apparently thought he was the kind of guy who'd just…just take advantage of someone like that? Coming from one of his best friends, the betrayal was almost too much. If he hadn't been sat there in a pair of slightly damp boxer shorts and a shirt which didn't fit, he'd have walked out - rain or no rain.

The anger lasted right up until he met Koushiro's eyes. Taichi had never been particularly good at staying angry with Koushiro - although he'd certainly worked on _seeming_ angry over the last few years, just so people didn't notice any difference in how he acted around him compared to the others. Still, until that point he'd really thought he had good reason to be _furious_. And then there he was, sat opposite Taichi, eyes wide with honest to God shock. He'd never seen Koushiro look so totally thrown off by a turn of events. What the hell was going on in his head?

* * *

 **A.N.: Following on from the last chapter's note, yep, I've done the whole "I am so cold that the warm air burns" thing too. That's about all though. I honestly do not recommend getting in a shower fully dressed as a treatment for hypothermia, but hey, Koushiro is not Jou.**

 **Also, any and all feedback or opinions are welcome! Also also, many thanks bobbyneko for your kind words. Honestly, it means a lot to hear that people are enjoying this, because it's soooo far from the sort of thing I usually write. I'm really glad you've enjoyed it so far!**


	5. Miscommunication

Koushiro stayed silent for a long moment. What was he supposed to say? He was coming to the realisation that ever since Mimi's party, they had done nothing but misunderstand one another - and always at the most crucial moments. It didn't help that he was badly out of his element, too. Feelings and emotions of this sort had never been something he'd particularly understood - at least, not in the way he'd come to realise his friends did.

This was what came of impulsive action. You just made mistakes which then needed to be fixed. He'd always believed that; always tried to think everything through before acting to prevent exactly what had just happened.

"I…I'm sorry, Taichi," he said, once he was able to make his mouth work again. "It wasn't my intention to in any way imply a slight on your character."

"Well what the hell _was_ your intention?" Taichi asked, folding his arms.

Koushiro faltered. Perhaps the worst part about impulsive behaviour _wasn't_ the potential to err. It was starting to feel like the explaining it afterwards had the upper hand in terms of "bad consequences". He could feel his face heating up. Whether that resulted from his social blunder or the intense stare that Taichi was levelling at him was impossible to say. Koushiro thought it could well be a combination of both.

Still, if he didn't think of something to say - and fast - it would only get worse. A faint voice nagged at the back of his mind, wondering how much worse than "barely able to talk to one another" things could get. They'd argued plenty over the years. But the silent treatment from the last fortnight was entirely unprecedented. Inspiration struck.

"Taichi, you play fighting games, right? And those racing games?"

Taichi stared at him blankly.

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

Koushiro held up his hands. "Bear with me Taichi. There is a point to this. Anyway. When you pick a game to play, it's one of those, right?"

Taichi frowned. "And the point is?"

"Well, why do you play all those old games on my computer then?"

"Seriously Koushiro, _this_ is what you're talking about? Some damn computer game? Where are my jeans - I'm leaving." He moved to stand up.

Koushiro slammed his hands down onto the table, making the other boy jump.

"Taichi, would you just _listen_? You wanted an explanation - well, I'm getting there. You wouldn't play those old games normally - because they're not the kind of thing you're into - and yet I fire up that emulator almost every time you come round and you've never suggested you would rather do something else. So tell me, Taichi, why is that?"

Taichi blinked. "You want to know…why we play video games together?"

Koushiro sighed. "No. I want you to think about why, when you're here, you're perfectly happy to play games you wouldn't even consider playing the rest of the time."

"And the point of that is?" Taichi shrugged, raising his hands in a gesture of defeat. "Whatever. I dunno - those are just the games you have?"

"So do you _dislike_ playing games here?"

"Look. Koushiro, I get you're trying to make some kind of point about something, but I _really_ don't know what it is. Can't you just quit it with this computer games crap and tell me? I'm still kinda cold, I'm pretty uncomfortable, and I'm not really in the mood for this bullshit."

Koushiro blinked. "You feel cold?" He stood up. "Right, well, if you go and sit on the sofa I'll find some blankets so you can warm up, and I'll check your clothes and see how they're doing in the dryer."

He was stalling, he knew that. But he _needed_ to. He needed time to think - and lots of it. He'd made enough of a mess of things already by acting without having thought everything through properly. Although on the other hand, was there _ever_ going to be enough time? How long did he have, anyway, before Taichi gave up on their friendship altogether?

Taichi didn't object to the blanket, at least, and it turned out that his shirt and socks were dry, even if his jeans weren't. It was a lot easier to think when Taichi was fully dressed from the waist up, and wrapped in blankets. Which didn't really make a lot of sense when he thought about it. When had he even been aware of that sort of distinction before?

They sat in silence, either way. Taichi was obviously waiting for him to begin, and he didn't know where to start. He wasn't even really sure what he _felt_ for that matter. Emotions were not his strong point.

"I envy you sometimes, Taichi," he said at last.

That earnt him a startled look.

"Envy _me_? You're the one who's a genius, Koushiro. I'm pretty sure people are meant to envy _you_."

If he stopped to argue the point with Taichi now, he'd never say it. Koushiro steeled himself and continued.

"You've always possessed an ability to articulate your emotions - something I have never mastered. I-"

"Oh come on, Koushiro," Taichi said, rolling his eyes. "That's not true. I mean, sure, you're not all wordy about it, like…like Mimi, or Sora. But it's not like you're impossible to understand or anything. Well. Not unless you're trying to be. But that doesn't count."

"Then explain the last three weeks, Taichi."

Silence.

Taichi sighed. "It's just been…awkward. Things were a lot easier when you didn't _know_ , you know?"

Koushiro raised an eyebrow. "You were happier? I could have sworn that there was an entire sub-genre of music devoted to proclaiming the misery of situations like that. I believe Yamato's band profit quite admirably from it, in fact."

Taichi scowled. "You're not helping," he said.

There. Amid his self-pity was the spark of irritation which indicated a mood change. Anger had _always_ been a sure fire way to motivate Taichi and stop him from sulking. For a reply, Koushiro simply met his gaze levelly. Nothing infuriated Taichi like being denied a reaction of some sort. And at least he knew how to deal with an angry Taichi. It was far better than a morose and silent one.

The plan backfired rather spectacularly when Taichi didn't rise to the bait. Koushiro waited for an angry retort, but all he got was more silence. Amid his irritation at the failure of the plan though, he couldn't help but note that Taichi really must have grown up somewhere in the last few years. There had been a time when, morose or not, Taichi would have bristled with anger simply to mask how he was really feeling.

Koushiro realised it was up to him then. Which was a problem, because words were not his forte. At least, not words of that sort.

"Taichi, I…" he paused, trying to turn irritatingly tenuous emotions into words. "For what it's worth, I'm…I'm glad you told me. Naturally, the fallout has been something I did not find so amenable, but… Look. I am reasonably certain at this point that I am as incapable of experiencing, ahh, a physical attraction to anyone, in the same way that a straight person is incapable of experiencing it towards someone of their own gender. If I'm perfectly honest, I'm not entirely certain what it _is_."

Taichi nodded gloomily and said nothing.

"But…" Koushiro faltered. It was remarkably difficult to talk, really. Still, if he let himself stop now, he would never finish. "But with that in mind, I would say that, as much as I can reasonably suppose, the closest I have come to understanding the concept has been with… That is… Perhaps I never took note of this before, or identified it as such, but if the additional time I have had by myself over the last few weeks has done anything, it has been to highlight that I regard your friendship in a significantly more important light than my friendships with anyone else."

Taichi still hadn't moved, although Koushiro was reasonably sure that his gloom had lifted at least a little. There was a difference in his expression - his eyes were less downcast, and the slump in his shoulder had lifted a fraction.

"I suppose what I am approaching in a roundabout way, Taichi, is the fact that, when I said… I mean, when I…" He could feel his cheeks growing warmer by the second. Why was it so hard to speak of a sudden?

Taichi, naturally, picked that moment to look up.

"You're blushing," he said flatly.

There was no logical purpose to denial of this fact - he could _feel_ the truth of it, after all. And yet, almost reflexively he found himself making an ineffectual excuse relating to excess heat from the dryer, and how he really ought to go and check on the clothes in it. Right at that exact moment, in fact.

Taichi gave him an odd look. "You said they weren't done yet only a few minutes ago."

Koushiro was not someone who reacted well to situations which called for hasty excuses or explanations. He had a long history of spectacular failures when it came to on-the-spot lies to cover digital world business, for example. Therefore, it was not altogether a surprise when Taichi snorted, rolled his eyes, and half-smirked at him.

"Jeez, and Yamato says _I'm_ a bad liar. Just spit it out already Koushiro."

Koushiro realised he was beginning to understand why Taichi had felt it was better before anything had been said. There had always been an ease to their friendship which Koushiro hadn't felt with anyone else. Things just…worked. And now, all of a sudden he felt… not _nervous_ per se, although it was the first word which came to mind. A more accurate description would be to say it was a blend of curiosity and - _what_ , exactly? A fear that one wrong word or deed could ruin their friendship forever? A frustration that nothing he had done so far had lifted Taichi from the slump he was in? A nagging inside him which promised to end only when the person he was closest to outside of his family cheered up again? It was only natural to want to make a friend feel better, certainly, but he was pretty sure this went beyond that.

And of course, he hadn't the foggiest idea of how to articulate _any_ of that. Not in a way which made sense, at least. There wasn't really an adequate selection of words to describe those feelings he could identify. Everything he was sure of seemed to fall into the gaps between words. More than friendship but not the conventional _other_ option. And growing in his gut was the nagging certainty that mostly, people didn't want to settle for that sort of halfway feeling. Taichi had never done so, that was for certain. He'd never settled for half with anything.

Koushiro sighed. "I meant it when I said I envied you, Taichi," he said at last.

Taichi snorted. "Says the guy who's _not_ sat huddled in a blanket trying to get warm again."

"I think it's probably safe to say that you are out of danger at this stage," Koushiro replied. It was easy - all _too_ easy to slip back into talking about safer topics. Already he could feel his momentum slipping away. If he didn't try again soon, he'd lose his nerve entirely, and they'd be back to the stilted, awkward, friendship-but-not of the last three weeks.

"Taichi, I-" He faltered, sighing. The moment had passed. "I'll go check on your jeans."

* * *

 **A.N.: So, when I started writing this fic (back in July? August maybe? I forget exactly when), I had originally intended for this chapter to be where it concluded. Or, at the very least, for this to be the part where something happened. I stalled for ages (by which I mean until around mid-October) because it just wasn't working. I have a somewhat longer version of the chapter in my notebook, where I was trying to make the conversation work its way out and the lesson is that I can't write stories like that. Because ultimately, despite this being classic "they are both alone and in a situation where they have to talk to one another" territory... honestly, it would have been forced.**

 **So instead we have Koushiro utterly bottling it. I hope the story is better this way, but I guess I'll just have to wait and see what everyone thinks!**


	6. Escalation

By the time Taichi got home the next morning, Hikari had already gone out - to meet up with the younger Chosen, apparently. That was a relief. Or it would have been, had Sora not rung just a few minutes after he slumped onto his bed.

"So. Did you patch things up with Koushiro yet?" she asked, with no preamble at all. Taichi flinched, grateful that she couldn't see his face.

"What made you think that?" he asked, hoping she couldn't pick up on the slightly strained note in his voice.

"Oh, _please_. Taichi, you've been acting weird around him since Mimi's party. And then last night you bolt, and _Koushiro_ was the one who went after you. So…wait. Are you with him right now still?"

"What? No! I'm at home!" Yep. Definitely a good thing she couldn't see his face.

"And what time did you get back this morning?"

Taichi took a breath to answer, and then exhaled. "What do you mean 'this morning'?" he said flatly. "I never said I stayed out overnight."

"Taichi, I know you didn't go home last night. Yamato asked Hikari to tell him when you got back. He was worried. _I_ was worried. We _all_ were. It's not like you to go running off like that."

He sighed, and flopped back down, running a hand through his hair as he spoke:

"Yeah, well. I didn't really plan to stay out all night."

He could practically _hear_ Sora rolling her eyes.

"Did you plan anything? Honestly Taichi, I thought you grew out of that sort of thing years ago. How far did you get before Koushiro found you?"

"I wasn't far from his apartment," he said, sighing. "And then he was all convinced I was going to get hypothermia, or had it already or something, so he practically dragged me over there to warm up. Honestly, he's getting as bad as Jou."

"Or maybe he just cares about you."

He groaned. "Sora, I know what you're trying to say, and _no_. He doesn't. Not like that."

"Ahh. And that's the problem, is it? So, what, you said something at the party?"

There were times, Taichi mused, when Sora could be even worse than Yamato when it came to unwanted perceptiveness.

"…Something like that," he said at last.

It was surprising, though, how much of a relief it was to just admit it. At least, it was a surprise given who he was talking to. He snorted, realising the irony.

"Taichi?"

"Oh, I was just thinking. It's kinda funny how life works out. I'm pretty sure I've had almost this exact conversation before… only the other way round."

Sora laughed. "That's because, for all that you're coming up on twenty, you've hardly changed a bit, Taichi."

It was hard to stay gloomy when talking to Sora. Particularly when such a golden opportunity to wind her up came along.

"Oh, I don't know about that," he said, as casually as he could manage. "I think my taste has improved."

She gasped with what he assumed was mock outrage, and then laughed. "Honestly, Taichi! I don't know what Koushiro sees in you."

Instantly, his good humour vanished.

"He _doesn't_ , Sora."

"Oh, really," she said. "I suppose that's why he chased after you in the middle of a downpour last night then, or why whenever you get drunk it's Koushiro who sorts you out, even though he never touches alcohol himself. Or why-"

"Sora, he _told me_ that he doesn't."

There was a pause on the other end of the line. Then: "Taichi, that… Hold on. I'm coming over. Honestly, this has gone on long enough. _Someone_ has to sort things out between you two."

He sat up. "What? No, Sora, there's nothing-"

The phone clicked as she hung up. Damn. Now he was going to have to put on a cheery face all day. And if Sora was on her way, odds were that Yamato wouldn't be far behind. The last thing he needed was a pity party. _Especially_ when Yamato would start asking what was going on, too. Sora had promised not to tell anyone, after all, and there was no way he was in the mood to start opening up _that_ can of worms.

His eyes flicked over to the computer. On the one hand, it was a little like running away. But on the other, it had been a good few days since he'd hung out with Agumon, so really, wasn't he overdue a visit?

Mind made up, he darted out of his bedroom and fetched his shoes from by the door. Besides, he always felt better for a visit to the digital world.

After scribbling a quick note for anyone who came looking for him, he fired up the digiport and let the familiar feel of falling into another world wash over him. At this point, it was even more comforting than flopping down into his bed. 

* * *

Koushiro had switched on his computer shortly after Taichi left that morning. It was maddening, to have felt he was on the cusp of being able to wrestle his feelings into words, only to then fall at the final hurdle. In the face of such a defeat, he had elected to give his new monitoring programme another trial. Ironing out bugs in the code was taxing, brain-hogging work. Precisely what he needed to distract him.

As a result, he observed Taichi opening a gate and entering the digital world. Well, it was no matter. There wasn't any reason for him to monitor _Taichi_ , was there? He could simply focus on an area his friend wasn't in. And it was hardly news that he kept tabs on the place, after all.

For a while, he was able to focus on the sector he had decided to watch. Curiosity got the better of him after half an hour or so. He flicked over to the area where Taichi had ported in, and frowned. That was odd. The signal for Taichi's digivice was there - loud and clear - but Agumon was nowhere in sight.

It didn't make any sense. He broadened the area included in the scan and tried again. Agumon's tracer popped onto the screen a good mile or so away from where he reckoned Taichi to be. Well, while odd, he supposed Taichi _could_ have wanted some time alone - except that the scanner was picking up other signals in both areas too. A large champion near Agumon, and a smaller digimon which seemed practically on top of Taichi.

The prickle of unease he had been feeling grew rapidly. He reached for his digivice and warned Tentomon where he'd be heading, then opened the gate.

The portal was a short distance from Taichi, so rather than wait for Tentomon he set off. The situation reeked of trouble, and Taichi didn't have Agumon on hand to protect him. Far better to get a head start on finding him, than risk arriving too late.

He'd landed in an area of open fields littered with large shrubs; all very idyllic if he'd been in the mood to admire the view. Instead, he was growing increasingly concerned at the rather distinct lack of anyone except himself. The reading on his own digivice suggested that Taichi was just a couple of hundred metres away, but there was no sign of him anywhere. Abandoning any pretence of subtlety, Koushiro called his name. First quietly, and then louder. Surely Taichi had to have heard him?

The signal seemed to be coming from a patch of bushes just in front of him, which either meant that Taichi was involved in the most elaborate and highly implausible game of hide and seek that Koushiro had ever heard of - or he was unable to reply. Visions of his friend lying injured or unconscious filled his mind, and he hurried forward.

"Koushiro!"

He whirled on the spot to see Tentomon racing towards him.

"Be careful Koushiro, I can hear movement in there!"

Koushiro was about to explain the situation when the air split with the sound of a creature barking loudly - and the bushes began to rustle. Tentomon dived in front of Koushiro, knocking him backwards and launching an attack into the bush before Koushiro could tell him to stop.

Instead of the scream he had been expecting, Koushiro heard an animalistic yelp. A small blue digimon leapt from the bushes, baring its teeth. When Tentomon fired another attack in its direction, it dashed off, barking loudly.

Scrambling to his feet, Koushiro pushed past his partner and headed for the bushes, parting the leaves to look around. This was serious. If Taichi hadn't responded to _that_ , then he was clearly…

…Not there.

Ignoring Tentomon's confused requests to know what he was doing, Koushiro frantically searched the empty bushes, stopping only when he spotted a small object lying in the dirt. He picked it up, then staggered back to his partner with a stomach that felt like lead. This couldn't be happening.

"It's Taichi's digivice," he said. "So where's _Taichi_?" 

* * *

**A.N.: So... this happened. Honestly, to start with there was no digital world in this fic. And then wouldn't you know, there it was, more or less writing itself. Hopefully the title of the story makes a bit more sense now, too! I do feel a little mean for the cliffhangery ending, but, well. It's a natural break. Let me know what you think!**


	7. Beyond Escalation

"So, I don't suppose that thing's likely to get _bored_ any time soon, is it?"

The cavern shuddered as the digimon rammed the cliff beneath them once more.

Agumon sighed. "I don't think so, Taichi."

Taichi groaned. "This is the most stupid thing that's ever happened to me. And that's really saying something, you know?"

From outside their refuge there came an earth-shattering roar. They both flinched and ducked as a cascade of dirt and debris rained down on them.

"If I could just evolve, I could get rid of him," Agumon said, dusting himself off.

"I know, Agumon. It's not your fault. Honestly, if anything, it's mine. Although I'm tempted to blame Sor… Well, actually, I don't even know where to start."

"What do you mean, Taichi? It wasn't your fault that Gaossmon ran off with your digivice."

Taichi sighed. "Yeah, well maybe if I'd-"

The cavern shuddered once more, cutting him off. A chunk of rock at the entrance crumbled away, dissolving into data as it fell out of sight.

"That doesn't look so good, Taichi," Agumon said.

"Nope. Sure doesn't. I reckon we've got a few more minutes before it blasts its way through and reaches us. If it's still going at that point, we should probably make a break for it. What d'ya think?"

Agumon nodded. "Sounds good to me! I hate hiding away in here like this anyway."

It didn't sound good. Taichi knew that. He knew that Agumon knew that too. It was, in fact, a terrible plan. But they didn't really have any kind of choice, because with every blow their attacker was blasting its way further into the cliff face - towards them.

"What did we even do to piss this guy off, anyway?" Taichi asked, after another attack took more chunks out of the cave.

"Diatrymon just isn't a very friendly digimon," Agumon replied, shrugging.

"Well, if we get out of this in one piece, remind me to steer well clear in future, okay? Man, we haven't been in this much trouble since, um…"

"Since the Digimon Emperor?" Agumon suggested, as another deafening roar shattered rocks.

"Nah, we were fine then. This is more like-" _Craaash!_ "-More like the Dark Masters." Taichi actually grinned, despite the danger. The grin hardly flickered as another attack sent yet more debris raining down on them both.

"Y'know, I never really thought about how stupid I was at the time," he said, shaking dirt from his hair. "I mean, we were _kids_ , and we thought we could save the world. And then we were so stupid we didn't give up, and that actually _worked_."

The next attack took a chunk away from the roof of the cave, allowing sunlight to reach them in their hiding place for the first time in a good half hour or so. Taichi stood, bracing himself on the walls of the cave, and looked at the Diatrymon below them. It had seemed a good idea at the time, to take refuge from the flightless bird digimon in a high cave. Unfortunately, from above, the thick armour on Diatrymon's wings and back meant that Agumon's attacks would be nearly useless.

Taichi's grin widened. _Nearly_. That was all the encouragement he needed, in a pinch. He turned to Agumon.

"Ready to do something stupid?"

Agumon looked up at him, eager as ever. "What's the plan?"

"If you aim for the eyes, Diatrymon will have to look away. Which gives us a chance to get past."

Agumon nodded, not even questioning the fact that they were a good twelve or eighteen feet up a cliff which no longer had a path back down.

The large digimon below them lowered its head, and backed up.

"He's gonna ram us again. Wait until he looks up afterwards, okay?"

Agumon nodded. "You got it, Taichi."

They both took a couple of steps back from the edge as Diatrymon charged the cliff. Taichi closed his eyes, allowing himself one last moment of doubt - and regret about the whole damn month. He'd lied to Agumon earlier - he knew _exactly_ where and when this whole thing had started.

 _Who would have thought one stupid party could cause so much mess? If I get out of this I am never going to another one again._

They staggered with the impact, and winced as lumps of rock came tumbling down onto the pair of them. Taichi didn't even wait for the dust to settle before leaning forward.

"Now!"

Agumon launched a fireball at Diatrymon, and leapt forwards. Taichi followed, bracing himself for the landing. He hit the ground hard and rolled, the air knocked from his lungs. For a second he was too winded to move, and winced as Diatrymon stomped blindly. A large, clawed foot missed him by inches. He mustered the energy to roll away and scrambled to his feet, looking around for Agumon. His partner stood on the far side of Diatrymon, firing off a series of blasts at its face. Diatrymon roared with what sounded more like irritation than pain. _Shit_. Things looked bad.

"Agumon, _run_!" he yelled. "Don't just stand there and get hit!"

He had about a split-second to realise how stupid it was to yell near - and therefore get the attention of - a large, irate digimon when you're stood within stomping range. Then the foot came down once more and he dived out of the way.

 _Shit, shit, SHIT!_

There wasn't time to fully appreciate how _completely_ screwed he was. He was too busy running for his life. Darting between Diatrymon's legs, he raced for his partner. If this was it, they would both go down fighting together.

A giant wing flapped just inches above his head, and the downdraft hit him like a solid blow. Taichi fell forwards, landing hard on his palms and launching himself to the side in order to dodge the long spike at the end of the wingtip.

He opened his eyes to see blue sky. Rocks dug into his back, and he groaned with pain. Somewhere off to the side he heard Agumon cry out a warning. That probably wasn't good, but there was no way he could pull off another escape manoeuvre.

Sunlight glinted to his left and he turned his head to see Diatrymon's taloned foot rising off the ground nearby.

Okay, so maybe he _could_ find some strength somewhere.

Calling on reserves he hadn't even known he possessed, somehow he managed to roll a few times, then push himself to his hands and knees. Agumon was just a few feet away, still heroically hurling ineffectual fireballs at Diatrymon's face. Any second now, the massive digimon would unleash an attack and take them both out. Most likely in one shot.

He felt… _surprised_ , really. Things had always worked themselves out somehow, in the past. And now, here he was with all his energy spent. No tricks left. No-

The drone of familiar wings reached his ears. For a second he thought he must be imagining it; lost in some pre-doom delusion. But no. That was Kabuterimon, which meant…

"Taichi!"

Koushiro was perched on his partner's back, clinging on tightly as Kabuterimon launched an attack at Diatrymon.

"Taichi, catch!"

It was a terrible throw. Taichi saw that straight off. Hell, it was _Koushiro_ throwing it, so of course it was. Even from fifty feet in the air, it was woefully short. But on the back of a miraculously timed entrance - and a perfectly delivered distracting blow from Kabuterimon - Taichi was able to dredge up enough lingering adrenaline to sprint, dive, and catch the small object before it landed. His grin erupted at the same instant that Agumon began to glow. Now _this_ was more like it.

Greymon's blast struck Diatrymon full in the chest, sending it staggering back towards the cliff. Taichi would have cheered if he'd had any air left in his own lungs.

The next attack was Kabuterion's, landing in almost exactly the same spot a few seconds later. Diatrymon roared with pain this time, then lurched forwards and rammed Greymon.

They were close enough that Taichi felt the earth shudder as Greymon stood firm, grabbing one of Diatrymon's wings in each hand. He watched with dazed fascination as they wrestled a few seconds before Greymon took the upper hand and threw Diatrymon aside…right towards himself.

 _Oh shit._

"Greymon, you- _oof_!" He was cut off mid-yell by Kabuterimon, who swooped down and snatched him out of the way. Diatrymon hit the ground with considerable force, and lay unmoving.

Taichi cheered as best he could, which admittedly wasn't all that well from his position. Greymon looked up and spotted him, clutched awkwardly in one of Kabuterimon's hands. His partner at least had the decency to look a little sheepish before devolving. Agumon landed in a sitting position, his head slumped forward with exhaustion.

Instead of landing, Kabuterimon flew lower once more, and picked Agumon up.

"I suggest we reconvene at a less hostile location," Koushiro said from somewhere above him. His normally calm voice shook with tension.

Taichi coughed, feeling the beginnings of what would almost certainly be some rather deep-seated aches and pains later. This was going to hurt like _anything_ once the adrenaline wore off.

"Sounds good to me." 

* * *

Kabuterimon landed not far from a portal, and placed Taichi and Agumon down just in front of it. Koushiro clambered down from his partner's back just before he devolved, and strode over the the pair - who were _laughing_ , of all things.

"What were you _thinking_ , Taichi?" he snapped, trying to ignore the fierce hammering of his heart. "You could have been killed! If I'd been a few seconds later in getting there, you _would_ have been killed."

Taichi stared at him, open-mouthed. "You seriously think I'm so stupid I'd just go pick a fight like that?"

"What am I _supposed_ to think?" he cried. "You were here for less than an hour before finding yourself in mortal peril! Do you just go _looking_ for danger?"

Taichi's reply came back every bit as angry as Koushiro had ever seen him.

"What is your _problem_ , Koushiro?"

"My problem is that I almost watched you _die_ , Taichi! When I found your digivice I-"

He stopped abruptly, all too aware of the fact that, now the anger was subsiding a little and the shock was taking over, he was dangerously close to tears. Arguments or not, he couldn't imagine a world in which there was no Taichi. He didn't want to have to.

Taichi was still scowling at him. Still. Better angry than dead. Better _anything_. Tentomon and Agumon stood staring at them both, as though they'd grown extra heads. It was too much, really it was.

"I'm going home," he said shortly. "I'm sorry Tentomon. I'll visit some other time."

Only when he reached the safety and privacy of his own room did he allow himself to finish that cut-off thought. That when he'd found Taichi's abandoned digivice he'd been _terrified_. That for a few awful moments he had thought Taichi was already dead, and it had felt as though part of himself had died too. What was he supposed to do with that sort of feeling? 

* * *

**A.N.: I'm not gonna lie. I had a lot of fun writing this.**

 **That said, I did take a while before I settled on exactly what was going to happen in this and the previous chapter. I toyed with the situation being sorta reversed for a while, but honestly, not only was there the issue of "how the hell would Taichi know?", but putting Koushiro in the position of needing rescue added a whole different dynamic which wasn't what I was going for.**

 **Let me know what you think!**


	8. Atypical Results

Taichi arrived back in his room a short while later, to find that he wasn't as alone as he had thought he'd be. Sora and Yamato had apparently been waiting for him, despite his note.

He groaned as he picked himself up off the floor. He did _not_ have time for this.

"Uhh, hey guys, nice to see you, gotta run!" he said, grabbing his phone and wallet.

Yamato stood in front of the door, arms folded.

"Look, Taichi," he said, in that irritatingly reasonable voice of his. "Will you just hear Sora out?"

"Any other time I _would_ , but-"

"Taichi, we're just trying to help!" Sora cried. "Running away to the digital world won't solve your problems, you know."

He couldn't help it, really he couldn't. Laughing, loudly and sharply, he pushed Yamato out of the way and wrenched open the door to the living area.

"Remind me to tell you what happened some time!" he called, racing for the front door. He yanked it open and darted out, hardly paying attention to the irate yells from Sora:

"Taichi! Taichi, where are you _going_?"

-X-

He ran almost all the way to Koushiro's apartment. Chest burning, legs aflame; head a riot of thoughts. By the time he made it to the Izumis' door, he was gasping so hard he could hardly knock. He still had his hands on his thighs, bracing himself to stand, when Mrs Izumi opened the door.

"Taichi?" she said, confusion etched on her face. "Did you forget something when you went home earlier?"

He shook his head. "Can I…come in?" he said between deep breaths. "Need to speak…to Koushiro."

"O-of course," she said, opening the door. "He's just in his room."

After a hasty bow and de-shoeing, he found himself hammering on the door.

"Go _away_ , Taichi," came Koushiro's voice.

 _Six knocks_ , he thought ruefully. He let his head thump against the door.

"Can you just let me in for…two minutes?" he said, then added more quietly: "I talked to Tentomon, you know."

Silence. He was just about to give up when he heard the bolt on the door slide back. The handle turned, and he straightened in time to _not_ fall forwards into the room.

"Look, if you're here for some sort of last word this really isn't-"

Koushiro stopped, and raised an eyebrow. "Did you _run_ the entire way here?"

Taichi let go of his aching side. "Er, I might have?" He put a hand on the door-frame to prop himself up. "I mean, I wouldn't mind sitting down…"

Koushiro sighed, and stepped back, gesturing for Taichi to sit on the bed.

For all that he'd mentioned sitting, Taichi remained on his feet as Koushiro shut the door.

"Did you mean it?" he said, earning a bemused look from Koushiro, who just sighed.

"I'm not really angry, Taichi. I-"

"That's not what I meant," Taichi said. Shit, why was _this_ more nerve-wracking than facing down Diatrymon?

"I'm not sure _what_ you mean then."

"I mean what you said last night," he said, tripping over his words in his haste to say them before he inexplicably chickened out. "When you told me to, you know… I mean, when you ported out Tentomon was saying how I shouldn't think you were angry or anything, because you weren't, and I mean, I kinda knew that because…well, it's you. But then he said how you found my digivice and didn't know where I was, and you were really worried, and he said that _you_ said something about how the last time you saw me you hadn't said something you wanted to say about how you felt, and, well…did you mean it?"

He could tell the moment Koushiro understood, because colour suddenly flooded his pale cheeks. It was almost enough of an answer on its own.

"I…well, as I recall, Taichi, it wasn't a welcome-"

Taichi held up a hand to cut him off.

"Did you mean it?"

The blush only deepened. It was all Taichi could do to keep his voice level as he asked:

"Would you mean it now?"

For a moment, he thought Koushiro was going to say "no". His heart was pounding fiercely as he waited for a reply.

"Taichi, that's not…I don't think that's really the point," Koushiro said at last.

He could feel the hopes that had powered him through his mad dash start to ebb away, leaving a deep ache in his gut that had nothing to do with the stitch in his side, or the collection of future bruises he'd gathered in the digital world.

"What do you mean?" he asked, uncomfortably aware that his voice sounded rather strangled.

Koushiro sighed. _Not a good sign, not a good-_

"Taichi, regardless of my feelings it would be-"

"Whoah, hold up," Taichi said. Optimism flared once more. " _What_ feelings? Is this what Tentomon was going on about?"

From the way Koushiro's blush deepened to levels Taichi hadn't realised were possible, he was prepared to bet he'd guessed right. Only half aware of what he was doing, he took a step forward.

"I, ah…" Koushiro sighed again, not meeting his eyes. "In all honesty Taichi, I'm not sure _what_ my feelings are."

"But there's _something_? More than just regular friendship?" This was definitely worse than Diatrymon. Running for his life was at least simple - there was no room or time to worry, you just had to act. Standing there, having to _not_ act while Koushiro's perfect, blushing face twisted with apprehension? It was almost impossible.

* * *

The seconds were ticking by, and he still didn't know what to say. This was _Taichi_ , after all. The person who never did anything by half. Who… who had _run_ all the way to Koushiro's apartment - right after almost being killed - on the back of what appeared to be an off-handed remark Tentomon had made. Who was still the exact same perfect idiot he had always been. The one person he knew he couldn't imagine life without.

"There _is_ something, Taichi, but-"

He didn't get any further than that, because suddenly Taichi's arms were round him in a bear hug which almost knocked him off his feet. For a moment he was too stunned to move, frozen in place with his arms more or less pinned to his sides and his face pressed against Taichi's shoulder. He could feel the weight of Taichi's head on his own shoulder, and the feather-light brush of hair against his neck.

It was so unexpected, in fact, that it took him several seconds to realise that Taichi was resting an increasing amount of weight on him - and that if he didn't do something soon, his knees were going to buckle and they would both end up on the floor.

"Uhh, Taichi…"

The words came out slightly muffled by the fabric of Taichi's shirt. Their effect was instantaneous though - Taichi sprang back, his expression every bit as panicked as Koushiro had ever seen it.

"I didn't mean- I mean, I didn't think-"

Koushiro raised his hands to silence him. "It's fine, Taichi. I just thought you should sit down. Before you fall."

Taichi didn't so much sit as collapse backwards onto Koushiro's bed, head in hands.

"Are you _trying_ to give me a nervous breakdown, Koushiro?"

Koushiro sighed. "You were about to keel over, Taichi. I thought it best to try and prevent any further injuries."

Taichi didn't say anything in reply. Unsure of what _else_ to do - it had been a surreal enough morning as it was - Koushiro sat back down in his chair and resumed his work. Quite aside from it being a good distraction from current events, there was the fact that Taichi's misadventure had exposed a serious flaw in his system. It was going to be a tricky one to sort out, too. He started thinking through the possible solutions. There was the option of giving everyone some sort of tracer to wear in the digital world, but that had a similar drawback to his previous reliance upon the digivice as a means of tracking - it could be dropped, lost, or stolen. Identifying the digital signature of a human in data form would take a lot more work, particularly as that data was unique to the individual. Then again, it would be worth the extra work if it meant that he could identify each Chosen Child directly, and with refinement that could also allow him to-

"You know, I blame Mimi," Taichi announced.

Koushiro turned to stare at him. " _What_?"

Taichi hadn't moved - he lay on his back, staring at the ceiling.

"For all this," he said, raising a hand and gesturing vaguely. "I mean, if she hadn't had that party…you know?"

Rather than attempt to think of some sort of response, Koushiro kept staring. All he could see in his mind's eye was how small and vulnerable Taichi had looked next to Diatrymon, diving here and there in an attempt to survive impossible odds. How close he and Kabuterimon had come to being too late.

"I'm still trying to work out if it was a bad thing or not," Taichi went on.

"The fact you almost _died_? I think-"

Taichi snorted. "I've almost died plenty of times," he said. "I was talking about everything else."

It took Koushiro a moment to derail his thoughts from that morning's antics in the digital world and catch on. By the time he did, he was beaten to a reply:

"You _really_ have to stop doing that," Taichi said, sitting up and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. He stared at Koushiro with an odd, intense expression.

"What?" Koushiro replied. Taichi had an unerring ability to throw him off-balance at times.

"That little eyebrow thing you do when you work something out. It's far too…" Taichi stopped and cleared his throat, looking away. "Well, I guess that's my problem really. Sorry Koushiro."

Koushiro could feel his cheeks heating up. This was rapidly turning into another one of those moments where he either said something or didn't. If he didn't, most likely Taichi would walk away - and although they seemed to have at least patched things up to the point where they were speaking again, there was really no telling how Taichi would act around him after that. On the other hand, if he _did_ say something, there was every chance that it would backfire spectacularly. Much as it had the last few times, in fact.

Taichi sighed. "I should go."

"Wait," Koushiro said, holding up his hands. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Very probably he was about to say the wrong thing.

"I'm not attracted to you Taichi," he said, not daring to open his eyes and see what effect his words were having. "Not in a physical sense. That isn't something which will change; it's just who I am. But it also doesn't change the fact that I care about you more than anyone I am ever likely to meet. I meant what I said and I still do, but I-"

For the second time that day, Koushiro was interrupted mid-sentence, this time by Taichi's hands on either side of his face. A second later, lips pressed against his own, and there was just time for him to register what was happening before Taichi's forward momentum set the computer chair turning. Taichi clutched wildly at him as the sideways motion picked up speed and threw them off-balance, which in turn dragged Koushiro from his seat - and sent them both tumbling to the floor in a tangle of limbs and curses.

Koushiro came to rest on top of Taichi, unsure as to whether he was more surprised about being kissed or the resulting fall.

Taichi grinned up at him. "That doesn't normally happen, I swear."

He rolled his eyes. "Taichi, are you aware of the basic mechanics of applying force to a movable object?"

Taichi glanced briefly at the chair. "I think the more important question right now is: 'Do you mind if we try that one again?'"

For an answer, Koushiro just leant forward and kissed him.

-X-

Taichi's phone rang. And rang. And rang off.

* * *

 **A.N.: Welp. At last, something happens!**

 **For a little while I was going to make this the end of the fic. It was sort of all I was going for, and I'm pretty happy with how it ties off. But...at the same time, I am writing an epilogue chapter. So I will leave this as incomplete for now. If the epilogue turns into another story (which, you know, is entirely possible, given that this happens to me a lot?), I will come back and edit this note, and then post it as a sequel. I am 90% sure that it'll be an epilogue chapter though.**

 **Please let me know what you think! As I say, this is...wow. Actually, this is the first time I have ever written anything like a romance, pretty much ever. So feedback is most certainly welcome. It's all new territory for me!**


	9. Epilogue

**A.N.: Well, writing an epilogue to this story turned out waaaay harder than I was expecting it to be. Apparently I'm a lot better at the pre-romance stuff. Anyway. This is soort of the epilogue to Unforeseen Consequences, but it's also kind of a bridge to the sequel (which in hindsight was always going to happen). I'm not sure when I'll start posting that yet - I don't have it all that fleshed out in my head at the moment, so it could be a bit of a wait. So far I only really have the two earlier tries I made at writing this epilogue, which fit much better as parts of a chapter than a "round things off" section. The result is that the epilogue is indeed pretty short, but it does actually do what I wanted it to. Even if it does also lead into a sequel I hadn't expected!**

 **Still, here we are, at the end of the first fic I've actually completed! Who would have thought I could do it? The irony that the first thing I complete is in the genre I find hardest to write is not lost on me. Oh well. Now that Christmas is out of the way, hopefully I will find it easier to settle back into writing again.**

 **And of course, I hope you have enjoyed this story! Please let me know what you've thought - honestly, I've been kind of blown away by some of the reviews people have left, so thank you all!**

* * *

 _24 Missed Calls._

 _16 New Messages._

 _From: Sora: 12.05pm  
_ _::Taichi, you can't keep dodging my calls forever. Just pick up the phone and let's talk, okay?::_

 _From: Sora: 12.29pm  
_ _::Please, just answer the phone. We're all worried about you.::_

 _From: Sora: 12.47pm  
_ _::Seriously Taichi, this is getting ridiculous. Where are you?::_

 _From: Sora: 1.16pm  
_ _::Taichi will you just answer the phone? Or call me. This isn't healthy::_

 _From: Yamato: 1.24pm  
_ _::Taichi, seriously. Just answer the phone already will you?::_

 _From: Sora: 1.49pm  
_ _::I really don't think it's healthy to hide from your problems like this Taichi. We just want to help. Just let us know you're okay?::_

 _From: Yamato: 2.21pm  
_ _::Sora's getting worried, and frankly, so am I. Answer your damn phone!::_

 _From: Yamato: 2.38pm  
_ _::ANSWER YOUR DAMN PHONE TAICHI::_

 _From: Sora: 3.07pm  
_ _::You had better have a really good excuse on hand next time I see you Taichi. Stop being such an idiot and CALL ME::_

 _From: Yamato: 3.36pm  
_ _::If you've done something stupid, I will absolutely kill you. Hell. I'm gonna kill you anyway. Quit screwing around and call someone already::_

 _From: Sora: 3.58pm  
_ _::Taichi, you are the single most annoying person I have ever met. Stop scaring us like this and let us know where you are!::_

 _From: Sora: 4.13pm  
_ _::This is what we get for trying to be supportive? Taichi, we are your FRIENDS. Will you just answer our calls?::_

 _From: Hikari:4.23pm  
_ _::Hey Taichi, where are you? Mum says Sora and Yamato were here earlier and you ran off. What's going on?::_

 _From: Yamato: 4.27pm  
_ _::If you don't call someone soon Taichi, you are a dead man when I get my hands on you.::_

 _From: Hikari: 4.46pm  
_ _::Taichi? Why didn't you answer your phone? You're not in trouble, are you?::_

 _From: Sora: 5.03pm  
_ _::Okay, I'm giving you another half an hour and then I am calling everyone to see if they know where you are. I don't want to make a big deal out of this, but you are worrying me.::_

* * *

Taichi checked the time after reading that last message.

"Oh, _shit_."


End file.
